Panetolikos F.C.
Panetolikos Football Club, or with its full name Panaetolikos Gymnastikos Philekpaideutikos Syllogos, is an association football club based in Agrinio, Greece. Panetolikos was founded in 1926 and is considered one of the historical clubs in Greece participating in the Greek First Division; some of the most well known players that started their career in the club are Stratos Apostolakis, former Greek recordman in international caps, Petros Michos. The club's symbol is Titormus, the ancient Aetolian hero and their motto is Τίτορμος Αιτωλός Ούτος Άλλος Ηρακλής, translated as Titormus the Aetolian is another Heracles. Panetolikos was founded on Tuesday March 9, 1926 with the purpose, as stated in its statutes: "The development and intensification of Gymnastic and Racing, The -ETHIC- supervision and the possible after-school education of minors, through childhood and EASTERN or Sunday schools". People had the idea of creating the club they did the act: "Healthy mind in a healthy body"; the unprecedented thought and goal of the founders, to provide education to the needy children through its Night Schools, added in its title the word "Educational Educator" and became an example to imitate all the Associations in Greece.
Beyond sports, his social offer was enormous in difficult times. Hundreds of poor children learned letters at Night Schools that worked and cared for themselves in society; this Athletico-social organization has written glory pages for Agrinio. Sections of classic sports, basketball, etc. were created although his football team was the one it loved by Aetolians and Akarnans. In the season 1954–55, Panetolikos participated for the first time in his history at the Pan-Hellenic Championship, as the club finished in the first position of the southern group of the regional championship as one of the six teams that took part in his final stage. In the 1960s, Panetolikos played in the Second National Championship and after relegation to the local, he returned dynamically. In the spring of 1975 celebrates the rise to Alpha Ethniki. Panetolikos followed an unsuccessful return attempt, it followed for about twenty years where it was in the smallest category to return to the period 1975–76. In the first class, Panetolikos remained in the following year, but returned to the lower classes where the club remained for more than 30 years.
Seven years Panetolikos was relegated from the 2nd and in the period 1984–85, Panetolikos conquered the championship of Gamma Ethniki. Panetolikos winning Delta Ethniki's championship in 1989, Gamma Ethniki's championship in 1992 and 1996, one year after Panetolikos touches the dream of returning to Alpha Ethniki, which the powerful of the season deprives him; the new millennium is relegated to Delta Ethniki. In the summer of 2005, the new Greek owner Fotis Kostoulas, coming from Sweden and wanting to take the reins of the city team from which he came, presented his plans for the future of the club and followed a radical refurbishment of the stadium. More the following projects were completed by the end of 2006: new turf, construction of a shelter above the western pit, renovation of the interior, construction of new newspapers and suites, On the two platforms, regeneration of the surrounding area. In addition, in 2009, a new roofed frieze was built with a capacity of about 120 distinct seats above the small east stand.
Panetolikos won an epic play-offs tie against fellow third-tier side Rodos to win promotion to the Beta Ethniki for the 2009–10 season. The tie was played in Athens at the Nea Smyrni Stadium, in front of full house, with 8,000 loyal fans traveling from Agrinio to support the team. After going down 1–0 early, the team staged an impressive fight back to win the game 2–1 with two goals in the last 5 minutes. Scenes of joy followed. Now in the Football League, Panetolikos continue to get both home and away. After terrific performances inside and outside Agrinio, Panetolikos won the last three critical matches and promoted to Super League; the team's 2010 performances have set new records for the Football League championship: point record, away wins record. Panetolikos had celebrated their promotion at home with a Friendly match against Panionios, a Super League team, on 20 May 2011. After a bad second round of results at the Super League, Panetolikos demoted to the Football League; the chairman of the club, Mr. Kostoulas after seven years, resigned from his position.
After this, the whole board resigned. Most of the players left the club, said that they wanted to return to their countries, or they want to play for other teams with better contracts. With Mr. Kostoulas again as a president, Panetolikos got promoted to the Super League via play-offs after six difficult games the last one with Olympiacos Volos, which Panetolikos won 1–2. After the end of the game, the city of Agrinio celebrated the promotion until dawn; the team had its most successful year so far in the First Division. In 2014 -- 15 season, form of the team finished First Division as 7th. Panetolikos finished in the 11th place in 2016 as well as in 2017; the team finished at 8th place with good performances. Panetolikos Stadium is a football stadium in Greece, it is used for football matches, mainly
Vincenzo Montella
Vincenzo Montella is an Italian football coach of Fiorentina, a former professional player. Montella's nickname during his playing career was "Aeroplanino", in reference to his small stature and trademark goal celebration, in which he spread his arms like wings. A prolific goalscorer, throughout his playing career Montella played as a forward for Italian clubs Empoli, Genoa and Roma, had a spell on loan in England with Fulham, he is remembered for his performances with Roma, where he won the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana during the 2000–01 season later reaching the 2003 Coppa Italia final with the club. In 2013, Montella was inducted into the A. S. Roma Hall of Fame. At international level, he made 20 appearances for Italy between 2005, scoring three goals. Montella began his managerial career as Roma's caretaker manager in 2011 coaching Catania the following season. In 2012, he moved to Fiorentina, where he spent three seasons, leading the club to three consecutive fourth-place league finishes, the 2014 Coppa Italia final and the UEFA Europa League semi-finals in 2015.
After a season-long spell with Sampdoria, he was appointed Milan's manager in 2016, that year, he won his first title as a coach with the club, the Supercoppa Italiana. He was sacked by the club in 2017 and was subsequently appointed the new manager of Spanish side Sevilla. Despite reaching the Copa del Rey final and reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history, he was sacked by Sevilla 4 months following a run that included nine matches without a victory. Montella began his club career in Serie C1 at Empoli in 1990 before moving to Serie B club Genoa in 1995, where he scored 21 goals in his only season with the club, at the end of which he lifted the Anglo-Italian Cup, he moved up to Serie A to city rivals Sampdoria, where he remained three years, until 1999, when he moved to Roma in a 50 billion lire transfer. Montella made his Serie A debut on 8 September 1996, against Perugia, it was Roma coach Zdeněk Zeman that wanted him to spearhead the Roma attack, but that year Roma signed a new coach, Fabio Capello, who disliked short forwards.
Despite this, during the 1999–2000 season, Montella scored 18 goals, being the topscorer of the giallorossi, playing alongside Marco Delvecchio, in front of advanced playmaker Francesco Totti. The following year, Roma signed the Argentinian forward Gabriel Batistuta from Fiorentina, the tall striker wanted by Capello. There was a slight controversy between the two forwards concerning the number 9 shirt, the prior number of both players – Batistuta chose number 18, although Batistuta was the coach's first choice, with Montella was deployed as a substitute. Despite his lack of starts, he was one of the main protagonists of Roma's third Scudetto in 2000–01 and scored many important goals for the club; the controversies between Capello and Montella continued in the following years as Montella was unhappy at his lack of first team opportunities, in March 2002 Montella made his sadness clear, stating, "I would have better expectations with another coach." Despite his struggle to gain a starting spot, he became a club idol to the supporters, as he had a knack for performing well in the Rome derby against Lazio, scoring a brace in his first derby in 1999 and four goals in a 5–1 win on 10 March 2002.
2003 was a difficult year for Montella, as he divorced from his former wife and was plagued with many injuries. During the 2003–04 season, he played only 12 games but still managed a solid scoring record, scoring six goals despite his limited playing time. During the 2004–05 season, Capello left Roma – for Juventus – and, while the giallorossi had a disastrous season, Montella scored 23 goals and earned a new contract lasting until 30 June 2010 helping Roma to the Coppa Italia final that season. In the 2005–06 season, he was again plagued with injuries, he underwent surgery on both shoulder, limiting him to just 12 games. In January 2007, during the 2006–07 season he was loaned to Fulham because Francesco Totti was the lone forward in new head coach Luciano Spalletti's 4–2–3–1 formation, while Montella wanted to have more chances to play. With Roma, Montella played a total of 215 matches over 8 years, scoring 94 goals to become the fifth-best topscorer in Roma history, he played his last game for Roma on 23 December 2006 before leaving on loan to England.
Montella was given the number 11 shirt. He scored twice in the FA Cup, he scored again on 27 January in the same competition against Stoke City. On 13 January 2007, Montella made his Premier League debut, against West Ham United. Against Tottenham Hotspur at Craven Cottage seven days he scored his first Premier League goal with a penalty kick, he scored a goal against Blackburn Rovers in a 1–1 draw which gave Fulham the boost to avoid relegation. Montella became popular with the Fulham fans and showed his gratitude for making him feel at home at Craven Cottage. However, he hardly started despite several public pleas. After manager Chris Coleman's sacking, Montella only started twice under replacement manager Lawrie Sanchez. Montella hinted; the loan was terminated by Sanchez on 8 May 2007, a week before its
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League is an annual football club competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their performance in their national leagues and cup competitions, it is the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League. Called the UEFA Cup, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League since the 2009–10 season, following a change in format. For UEFA footballing records purposes, the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League are considered the same competition, with the change of name being a rebranding. In 1999, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was merged with the UEFA Cup. For the 2004–05 competition a group stage was added prior to the knockout phase; the 2009 re-branding included a merge with the UEFA Intertoto Cup, producing an enlarged competition format, with an expanded group stage and a change in qualifying criteria. The winner of the UEFA Europa League qualifies for the UEFA Super Cup and, since the 2014–15 season, the following season's UEFA Champions League, entering at the group stage.
The title has been won by 28 clubs. The most successful club in the competition is Sevilla, with five titles; the current champions are Atlético Madrid, after defeating Marseille in the final to win the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. The UEFA Cup was preceded by the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971; the competition grew from 11 teams during the first cup to 64 teams by the last cup, played in 1970–71. It had become so important on the European football scene that in the end it was taken over by UEFA and relaunched the following season as the UEFA Cup; the UEFA Cup was first played in the 1971–72 season, with an all-English final of Wolverhampton Wanderers against Tottenham Hotspur, with Spurs taking the first honours. The title was retained by another English club, Liverpool, in 1973, who defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach in the final. Borussia would win the competition in 1975 and 1979, reach the final again in 1980. Feyenoord Rotterdam won the cup in 1974 after defeating Tottenham Hotspur with 4-2 in aggregate.
Liverpool won the competition for the second time in 1976 after defeating Club Brugge in the final. During the 1980s, IFK Göteborg and Real Madrid won the competition twice each, with Anderlecht reaching two consecutive finals, winning in 1983 and losing to Tottenham Hotspur in 1984; the year 1989 saw the commencement of the Italian clubs' domination, when Diego Maradona's Napoli defeated Stuttgart. The 1990s started with two all-Italian finals, in 1992, Torino lost the final to Ajax on the away goals rule. Juventus won the competition for a third time in 1993 and Internazionale kept the cup in Italy the following year; the year 1995 saw a third all-Italian final, with Parma proving their consistency, after two consecutive Cup Winners' Cup finals. The only final with no Italians during that decade was in 1996. Internazionale reached the final the following two years, losing in 1997 to Schalke 04 on penalties, winning yet another all-Italian final in 1998, taking home the cup for the third time in only eight years.
Parma won the cup in 1999. Liverpool won the competition for the third time in 2001. In 2002 Feyenoord Rotterdam won it for the 2nd time in the club history by defeating Borussia Dortmund during the final in their own stadium, Stadion Feijenoord in Rotterdam with 3-2. Porto triumphed with the latter against Portuguese team Braga. In 2004, the cup returned to Spain with Valencia being victorious, Sevilla succeeded on two consecutive occasions in 2006 and 2007, the latter in a final against fellow Spaniards Espanyol. Either side of Sevilla's success, two Russian teams, CSKA Moscow in 2005 and Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2008, had their glory and yet another former Soviet club, Ukraine's Shakhtar Donetsk, won in 2009. Atlético Madrid would themselves win twice in three seasons, in 2010 and 2012, the latter in another all-Spanish final. In 2013, Chelsea would become the first Champions League holders to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League the following year. In 2014, Sevilla won their third cup in eight years after defeating Benfica on penalties.
Just one year in 2015, Sevilla won their fourth UEFA Cup/Europa League and, in an unprecedented feat, they defended their title a third year in a row beating Liverpool FC in the 2016 final, making Sevilla FC the most successful team in the history of the competition with 5 titles. Since the 2009–10 season, the competition has been known as the UEFA Europa League. At the same time, the UEFA Intertoto Cup, UEFA's third-tier competition, was discontinued and merged into the new Europa League. UEFA had considered adding a third-tier competition since at least 2015, believing that a bottom-level tournament could act as a means of giving clubs from lower-ranked UEFA member countries to have a chance of progressing to the stages beyond the stages they traditionally would be eliminated in the Champions League and Europa League. In mid-2018 talk of an announcement intensified, with news sources claiming an agreement had been reached for the competition to be launched and that the 48-team Europa League group stage would be split into two, with the lower-half forming the nucleus of what would be the new event.
On 2 December 2018, UEFA announced that the competition – provisionally known as "Europa League 2" or just "UEL2" – was to be launched as part of the 2021–24 three-year competition cycle, with UEFA announcing that the new tournament would bring "more matches for more clubs and more
Sokratis Papastathopoulos
Sokratis Papastathopoulos known by the singular name Sokratis, is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Premier League club Arsenal and the Greece national team. Papastathopoulos joined AEK Athens from Apollon Petalidiou after being scouted by Toni Savevski. On 26 October 2005, he made his debut for AEK in a Greek Cup match against PAS Giannina, scoring in the seventh minute of the game to help lead AEK to a 3–0 win. In January 2006, he was loaned to Greek Second Division club Niki Volou for six months in order to gain first-team football and gather valuable experience, he made a total of 15 appearances for Niki Volou. During the 2006-07 Superleague Greece, Papastathopoulos managed to make 14 appearances whilst competing against the likes of Bruno Cirillo, Traianos Dellas and Vangelis Moras. In AEK Athens' 2006–07 UEFA Champions League campaign, Papastathopoulos managed to play in three out of six group games. In these three games, AEK managed one draw and one loss. During the 2007–08 Superleague Greece, he was a mainstay in AEK's defence, keeping out competition from Geraldo Alves.
He played in the 2007–08 Champions League campaign, in a Superleague match, he became AEK's youngest-ever captain, at age 19, in a game against local Athens rivals Panathinaikos in 2008. On 1 August 2008, Papastathopoulos agreed to transfer to Genoa of the Italian Serie A for an undisclosed fee, he played a club friendly against Genoa on the same day. He made his debut for Genoa on 27 September 2008 against Fiorentina, followed by a start against Ravenna in the Coppa Italia a few days later, his first goal for Genoa came on 5 October 2008 at home against Napoli. Genoa won the game 3–2, but Papastathopoulos was sent off in the 89th minute During the 2009–10 season, he managed to play in most games and became somewhat of a fan favourite. On 20 July 2010, it was confirmed on Milan's website that Papastathopoulos had joined the team, after Genoa and Milan reached an agreement to transfer Papastathopoulos to the club for €14 million, with the following payment schedule: Gianmarco Zigoni, Nnamdi Oduamadi and Rodney Strasser in a co-ownership deal, plus €4.5 million in funds.
Papastathopoulos was the club's first arrival under new manager Massimiliano Allegri. On 24 May 2011, Milan and Genoa executives Adriano Galliani and Enrico Preziosi formed a verbal agreement to solve the player ownerships of Kevin-Prince Boateng, Alberto Paloschi, Marco Amelia and Giacomo Beretta; the deal entailed that Milan bought back Gianmarco Zigoni, Rodney Strasser and Nnamdi Oduamadi, while Genoa bought back Papastathopoulos for €13 million, which made the de facto loan cost for Milan €1 million. On 21 July 2011, Papastathopoulos moved to German club Werder Bremen on a loan deal until the end of the 2011–12 season, with the option to purchase outright. Following impressive performances on loan, on 16 April 2012, it was announced that Papastathopoulos would join Bremen on a permanent basis for a €5 million transfer fee; the 2012–13 season, was not a good one for the club. In March 2013, in the midst of a relegation battle and with tensions high, Papastathopoulos engaged in a training ground brawl with teammate Marko Arnautović.
Bremen would finish the year in 14th, staving-off relegation. On 24 May 2013, the eve of the 2013 Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, Papastathopoulos completed a €9.5 million transfer to Dortmund, agreeing to a five-year contract through to 2018. Upon signing, he spoke about the deal, saying, "Money did not play a role in my decision to join Dortmund. My own future was all that mattered and I am convinced that I made the right decision." With centre-back Felipe Santana departing Dortmund for Schalke 04, Papastathopoulos began as the effective third-choice behind tandem Neven Subotić and Mats Hummels. Borussia Dortmund Sporting Director Michael Zorc expressed his satisfaction with the deal: "We are delighted that Sokratis has decided to join Borussia Dortmund, he is a flexible player capable to play in a variety of positions in defence who we believe has tremendous potential."On 10 July 2013, Papastathopoulos made his debut for Dortmund in a pre-season friendly away to Swiss club Basel at St. Jakob-Park, along with fellow BVB debutants Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
On 27 July, he won his first title with the club after entering the match as a substitute in a 4–2 win over Bayern Munich for the 2013 DFL-Supercup. On 1 November 2013, he scored his first goal for Dortmund in a 6–1 win over VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga. Papastathopoulos' strong first year with Dortmund was rewarded with his selection to the best XI of the 2013–14 Bundesliga campaign; the selection was organized in a worldwide fan vote by the governing body of the Bundesliga through its official website. The description of his play following his nomination was; the Greek stopper took advantage of the opportunities given to him by the absence of Neven Subotić and Mats Hummels. Stable, with leadership characteristics and tendency to win the ball without making a mistake."In November 2014, Papastathopoulos was ruled out of action for two weeks with a broken fibula. He suffered the injury to his right leg in Dortmund's 1–0 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach, a result that ended a five-match Bundesliga losing streak for the c
Atromitos F.C.
Atromitos Football Club simply known as Atromitos, is an association football club based in Peristeri, Athens that plays in the Super League. It was founded in 1923 and its home ground is Peristeri Stadium. In recent years, Atromitos has established itself as one of the most competitive and strong clubs in Greece, they were runners-up of the Greek Cup in 2011 and 2012 and have had breakthrough runs in the league, finishing 4th in 2011–12, 3rd in 2012–13, 4th in 2013–14 and 4th as well in 2014–15 season. Their best performance in the league has been the third place, which they have achieved in the 1928 and 2013 seasons of the Greek Championship. Atromitos was founded in May 1923 when Kalomvounis, Glykofridis, Synodinos, Rigopoulos and other students living in Victoria Square, decided to form a football team; that same year, Vaggelis Stamatis, a mathematics teacher and member of the Panhellenic football league, joined Atromitos' administration board – because of his prominence in pre-war Greek football history, Stamatis' involvement increased the new team's stature in Athenian football.
In 1924, Atromitos was accepted into the Greek football league. At the time, Atromitos played at Aris Park, the home ground of Panellinios and Panathinaikos. During their first season in the league's first division, they ended in third place behind Panathinaikos and AEK. In 1928, they defeated Goudi 4–3 in the final game at Rouf Stadium to become champions of Athens; that same year, they took part in the first Panhellenic Championship as Athens champions, organised by the HFF. On 24 May 1928, they were beaten 3–1 by Aris Thessaloniki in an away game, were defeated again on 3 June by Ethnikos Piraeus. On 10 June, they managed a draw at home against Ethnikos, before losing again to Aris 3–1 seven days later. Overall in the national championship, Atromitos finished third. During the following two years, Atromitos stayed in the upper part of the first division of Athens, in 1929, they finished third behind Panathinaikos and AEK, they repeated the feat in 1930 but they were relegated from the first division of Athens in 1931, as they came last with only one point.
In 1932, Ioseph Chourouktsoglou and Nikolaos Epioglou decided to move Atromitos to Peristeri. Earlier, it was located in the same area as Panathinaikos, they had found it hard to establish a large fan base or develop a unique identity. There, they formed a merger with the local team of Astir Peristeriou, from which comes the crest of Atromitos, a blue star. Before occupation of Greece, they played again in Panhellenic championship in the season of 1938–39. Atromitos played in second division until May 1972 when, under the coaching of Savvas Papazoglou, they were re-promoted to the first level, it proved a change too hard to handle, they were demoted the following year. In 1975, a better-prepared Atromitos returned to the first division with a large fanbase, ended the year in 13th place, securing their spot in the top flight. In 1976, they improved to end the season in the best in the club's history. But, they relegated in 1977. By 1981, Atromitos had succeeded in attracting renowned players such as Stylianopoulos, Álvarez and Athanasopoulos.
However, despite high expectations, the club played for the last time in the top flight, once more returned to the lower divisions. After years of playing in the third division, Atromitos won promotion back to the second division in May 2002 by beating Levadiakos at Patras Stadium; the team played again in the top flight between 2005–2008 by merging with Chalkidona and returned to the top flight after playing one season in the second division in 2008–09. In the 2010–11 season, Atromitos made a historic run to the Greek Cup Final. However, they lost 3–0 to AEK. Atromitos finished the 1st half of the season in 4th place, together with Asteras Tripolis and 14 points from the top, but 4 points from 6th place, that doesn't redirect to the playoffs. On 6 January 2013, at the debut of Nikos Anastopoulos in the coaching position and the Portuguese footballer Fabio, Atromitos beat Kerkyra 2–0, with two headers. From Sokratis Fytanidis at the 26th minute and from Stathis Tavlaridis at the 31st minute. In other words, the win was awarded to the team by the two centre backs.
The team stayed in 4th with Asteras Tripolis, but now 6 points from the 6th place. One matchday they managed to get the 0–0 from PAOK at Toumba, retaining the 6 points difference from PAS Giannina. On Matchday 18, they beat Platanias 1 -- 0; the goal was scored by Eduardo Brito. The 2013–14 pre-season friendly against West Bromwich Albion was lost by 3–1. For the 2015–16 season, Atromitos has achieved an important qualification to the UEFA Europa League playoffs after recording two wins against AIK Stockholm, 3–1 in the first game in Sweden and 1–0 in the rematch at Peristeri Stadium. There they faced rated Fenerbahçe S. K. of Turkey. They lost 0–1 in the first match at Peristeri Stadium and 0–3 in the rematch in Turkey and were eliminated. At 21 June 2017, Atromitos announced Damir Canadi as the new head coach of the club. At 23 October 2017, Atromitos won AEK 0–1 in an away game and recognition began. Atromitos finished 4th at the 2017–18 season. On 20 March 2017, announced that Canadi will manage the club for the 2018–19 season.
First Alternative The home ground of Atromitos was once well-maintained but has been neglected. In its early days, Peristeri had grown to become the fourth largest municipality in Greece; the first club home ground was the grounds of "Bravery", which was
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris Football Club is a Greek football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece, part of the multi-sports club A. C. Aris Thessaloniki; the club is known in European competitions as Unbeaten in European Competitions for 50 years Aris is one of Greece's top clubs, having won the fifth most Superleague titles after Olympiacos,AEK,Panathinaikos while they have the same number of championships as PAOK. Created in 1914 as Aris Thessaloniki Football Club, the club was a founding member of the Macedonian Football Clubs Association, as well as the Hellenic Football Federation; the colours of the club are golden/yellow, a dominant colour in the culture of Macedonia and reminiscent of the Byzantine heritage of Thessaloniki, black. It is named after Ares, the ancient Olympian "God of War", associated with courage and masculinity, whose image is portrayed on the club's logo as depicted in the Ludovisi Ares sculpture. Aris was one of the strongest and most popular teams in Greece during the interwar period.
They have won the Greek championship three times, the Greek Cup once, they have remained undefeated at home in European competitions in 26 home matches since 1968. The team's home ground is the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium; the club was established as a football club by a group of 22 young friends in a coffee bar in Votsi area on 25 March 1914 and given the name Aris from Ares, the ancient god of war. Its nickname was inspired by the two Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, when Greece fought against the Ottoman Empire before engaging in a war with Bulgaria. In Greek mythology, Aris was a deity, in conflict with Heracles, the mythological character after which Aris's rival football team, was named. Aris holds a fierce rivalry with Olympiakos. In the beginning the club was based on a near the Arch and Tomb of Galerius, but after the accession of two minor football clubs in 1919 and 1921 the club's base was moved near to Flemming Street; the first stadium was built on the site where Mars Field Park lies on Stratou Avenue.
The club became popular and soon new teams apart from football were established. During this early stage of football in Greece no professional league was established. Instead, three minor leagues were created, with the champions of each league competing in a postseason mini tournament to claim the title of the national champion; the first official game was held in 1923 against Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki, another Thessalonician team. That year marked the first title, when Aris was named regional champion of Macedonia, something, repeated next year. In 1926 the club was renamed "Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki" to include other sports than football; the first big success for Aris came between 1927 and 1928 when they won the first Bulgarian Championship, beating finalists Atromitos and Ethnikos Piraeus exploiting the abstention from the championship teams of RECs. In the first race on 24 May, the team of Thessaloniki prevailed 3–1 Atromitos, while three days after losing to Ethnikos Piraeus 3–2.
In iterative matches played in June in Thessaloniki, Aris won both of his opponents by 3–1 and thus crowned the first champion of Greece. Coach of the team was the German Thomas Kessler, prominent players of Aris were, among others, Kostas Vikelidis, Savvas Vogiatzis that emerged and top scorer with six goals, Nikos Aggelakis, scorer of the finals with four goals and Dionysis Caltech; the following year, it was held the final stage of national championships although Aris won the championship title in Thessaloniki, playing two matches barrage against PAOK. The first took place on 12 May 1929 and ended 1–1, while the second was held on 2 June with Aris to beats 4–3, having Nikos Aggelakis scoring a hat-trick. On 20 April 1929, the first friendly match took place between Aris and Panathinaikos, the "yellows" to defeat 5–4; the second championship came four years in 1932, only this time his opponents were Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK, Ethnikos, PAOK and Iraklis. Aris managed to collect 22 points in this mini tournament, four more than the second, scoring large wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos, 7–3 against Iraklis and 3–0 versus AEK and Olympiacos in Athens new star players emerged, Aggelakis, Gigopoulos, while Belgian manager De Valer guided the club.
Four years after winning the first Panhellenic title, the "yellows" won the championship. Aris became champion amassing a total of 22 points, four more than second Panathinaikos and scoring big wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos with four goals Maywood, 6–1 on Apollon Athens with six goals in the Aggelakis' first home appearance with the first group of Kleanthis Vikelidis, 7–3 vs Iraklis with four goals Kitsos and away 0–3 over Olympiacos, PAOK and AEK. Leading scorer of the league emerged Nikos Kitsos with 15 goals and Nikos Aggelakis to 14. Big stars of that team were Kitsos, Aggelakis and Vogdanou Gkikopoulos while coach De Valera; that same year, the EPO instituted for the first time the Greek Cup, Mars crashing Panathinaikos 7–2 in the quarterfinal. This was followed by victory over Apollon Athens, to reach the final where they lost 5–3 from AEK Athens, losing the chance to win the first doubles. Aris won their third title in 1946, playing against two teams, AEK from Athens and Olympiacos from Piraeus, champions of the other two minor domestic leagues.
Aris beat Olympiacos twice, conceding none. Aris has not won a championship since the establishment of the First Division
Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Αnorthosis Famagusta FC, known as Anorthosis, is a Cypriot football and volleyball club. Based in Famagusta, the club is now based in Larnaca. Anorthosis was founded in 1911 in Famagusta and in 1934 became one of the founder clubs of the Cyprus Football Association, their home ground is the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, the president of the club is Antreas Panteli. One of the most successful clubs in Cypriot football, Anorthosis has won 13 First Division titles, 10 Cypriot Cups and seven Super Cups. Anorthosis is one of three Cypriot clubs never to have played in the second division and the first one which had participated in the Champions League Group Stages; the club was founded in Famagusta on 30 January 1911. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the occupation of Famagusta by the Turkish army, Anorthosis was relocated to Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca and because of the occupation of Famagusta Anorthosis is one of those clubs that are known as the "refugee" clubs. Anorthosis' original home stadium in Famagusta, G.
S. E. is in poor condition. Ammochostos, or better Varoshi, around 1910 was a small town of about 4,000 inhabitants: farmers, fishermen and a few shop-keepers; the only place of recreation was the coffee shop. At that time a few and enthusiastic men of that community set a goal and managed to create a "reading club" in hospitable rooms where they could gather and educate the youth in cultural and national matters; the period from 1911 until 1928 can be characterized as the first period of Anorthosis history. In that period, Anorthosis was a nationalist and spiritual group. Patriotic speeches and national commemorations were organised in the building of Anorthosis, but the sector where Anorthosis had created a tradition, unique in the history of clubs of which the reputation and activity was spread all over Cyprus, was in music. Under the control of Demetris Demetriades, it began with great success the only madolinade and band of Anorthosis; the actions taken at that time were many, some of them were: 1913: In a collection, done in the building of Anorthosis the extravagant – for that time – amount of 84 pounds was gathered in just one hour, given for the political needs of the country.
1922: Anorthosis establishes a depository for the relief of the refugees from the Asia Minor destruction. The second period in the history of Anorthosis started with an important changeover in the aims and actions of the club; the "Anorthosis Reading Club" renamed to "Musical Philological and Philanthropical Club" and as an emblem of the club is now the mythical bird Phoenix. During this period the mantolinade and band of Anorthosis are better organised and stipendiary teachers are being appointed for the development of the two groups. In the philological sector the tradition of the past continued. Anorthosis created a first class library with a lending section. In 1936, 1,500 volumes of books were lent to Anorthosis members. In the second period a great importance was given to the athletic sector. Under the control of professor of Gymnastics, Anastasis Oikonomides and volleyball teams, sea sports and teams of classical athleticism, gave Anorthosis many first wins and trophies. Anorthosis in association with Gymnastic Club Evagoras, its own child, organized district and pan-Cyprian games and athletes got their first wins, not only in PanCyprian games.
Of course, for a small time period, there was nothing to show. For example, in 1929 with a letter of POEB of which members are in Anorthosis, said that it was ready to break up and its members to be merged into the football team of Anorthosis, it was decided that a second football team should be funded, the responsibility was on Mr. An. Oikonomidis and S. Mathaiou. On 11 February 1932, at the command of the Ammochostos governor the club of Anorthosis closed for a short time. On 29 October, the president, the general secretary and the boufι manager of Anorthosis were arrested by the police because the Greek flag was hanging on the balcony of the club building. On 26 July 2005, they beat the Turkish team Trabzonspor 3-1 in the first leg of their second-round Champions League qualifying match, they progressed 3-2 on aggregate. In the third-round qualifying tie against the Scottish team Rangers, Anorthosis lost the first leg 2-1, the second leg 2-0, so dropped into the first round of the UEFA Cup.
They were defeated 6-1 on aggregate by the Italian team Palermo. Anorthosis qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup by way of their Cypriot Cup win, they entered the competition at the First Qualifying round stage. Aggregate victories over FK Vardar and CFR 1907 Cluj saw them move through to the First Round proper. Anorthosis were drawn against English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur; the first leg was played at White Hart Lane on 20 September 2007 which Tottenham Hotspur won 6-1. On 4 October 2007 the second leg resulted in a 1-1 draw when Robbie Keane equalised for Tottenham Hotspur after Fabinho had put Anorthosis ahead. After winning the domestic league 2007–08, Anorthosis qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Group Stage, over-running Armenian Champions FC Pyunik, Austrian Champions Rapid Wien and Greek Champions Olympiacos in the qualifying rounds; this allowed the team to qualify for the Group Stage of the Champions League, the first time for a Cypriot team. In the group stage, they earned their first point following a 0-0 away draw with Werder Bremen got their first win beating Panathinaikos FC 3-1 while Hawar Mulla Mohammed became the first Iraqi playe
Greece
Czech Republic
